Remco Universal Monsters

Probably wanting to recreate the success of their mid-70's line of classic monster action figures, in 1980 AHI (using their Remco subsidiary name) produced a new line of figures devoted to the popular movie monsters: Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolfman, Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and a new one, the Phantom of the Opera. These newer figures were slightly taller than the previous, standing about 9" in height.

Like their previous Official World Famous Super Monsters line, the company again produced a series of high-quality action figures in attractive packaging. The faces of some of the figures were fairly close to those of the actors they were (more or less) trying to reproduce - i.e., the Wolfman looks somewhat like Lon Chaney Jr. with long fangs; the Mummy resembles Boris Karloff in his makeup; etc. The Dracula is patterned more after Christopher Lee's Hammer version of Dracula (and the artwork on that figure's packaging makes this particularly clear). The Frankenstein face is more generic.

Each figure's face and hands glow in the dark, facilitating more 'dark-room' play appropriate to the characters. This line of figures also incorporates something called 'Monster-Crush' grabbing action, where the figure's arms will close in a bear hug with the press of a button.

Packaged with each figure was also a skull-and-bones ring, and a patch depicting the specific character purchased.